It was a hot entry into sum-

mer here in the Delaware

Valley. But there‘s been

very little time to ease the

pace. The minute grades

were in, the permanent

faculty all headed in to a

day long Department Re-

treat where we strategized

our mission and identity

and the next five years.

We‘re thrilled that Dr.

Cassie Striblen (p. 7) joins

our faculty in the fall and,

while she couldn‘t be with

us at the retreat, she partici-

pated in spirit and over

email.

Immediately after the re-

treat, work on the NSF

grant began in earnest for

Matthew Pierlott and my-

self. We held ―Working

Group Sessions‖ where we

mined the expertise of our

colleagues in the physical

sciences (including CAS

Dean Lori Vermeulen, a

chemist!) for the best ways

to implement the discipline

-specific ethics training

modules that we intend to

build on-line in the virtual

world Second Life. Our

goal is to have the first

versions beta-testing within

six months.

Looking back over the past

year, the Department has

been creating a very visible

presence on campus and

off. Last September, sev-

eral of us participated in an

Americans United for

Separation of Church and

State Symposium (Bucks

County Chapter) along

with other academics, law-

yers and religion experts

from around the region.

Highlights of the year on

campus included the 5th

Annual WCU Graduate

Student Philosophy Con-

ference (p. 2) and the

PASSHE IAPRS confer-

ence we hosted here in

April (p. 2). Dr. Joseph

Margolis (Temple Univer-

sity) honored us with a

lecture for our Ideas That

Matter lecture series,

also,in April (p. 3).

The student-run Philoso-

phical Society started what

we all hope is a new tradi-

tion this year: faculty dis-

cussion panels (p. 8) which

drew pleasing-sized crowds

and pleased the faculty

involved who engaged in

friendly and wide-ranging

discussions of the sched-

uled topic.

We‘re proud of the accom-

plishments of our students

over the past year. Includ-(Continued on page 7)

Greetings! News from the Chair

Philosophy Major Receives 2010 College of Arts and Sciences Outstanding Student Award

Amy Marvin (B.A. ‗10)

was nominated by the De-

partment for and received

one of the two 2010 Col-

lege of Arts and Sciences

Outstanding Student

Awards. Amy left a won-

derful lasting impression

on every instructor who

had her in class, her quiet

demeanor a sure sign of

deep waters. With a degree

in both Philosophy and

Women‘s Studies, she‘s

taking a year off from

school before applying to

graduate programs and we

eagerly await the opportu-

nity to write those letters of

recommendation!

A Missive from Dr. Claghorn 4-5

Dr. Struckmeyer’s Philosophy in Prison 6

Current Faculty 8-9

Alumni News 11

Philosophy Graduates 2008—2010 11

Highlights in this issue:

In

ter

sec

tio

ns

WE

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ST

ER

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NI

VE

RS

IT

Y

PH

IL

OS

OP

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Volume 13

Summer 2010

Current permanent faculty at the welcome dinner for

new hire Dr. Cassie Striblen in June: (from l.) Cassie

Striblen, Joan Woolfrey, Helen Schroepfer, Matthew

Pierlott, Frank Hoffman and Dan Forbes. (Ruth Por-

ritt is not pictured.)

students and 2 alumni. West Chester‘s

Amy Marvin won one of the conference‘s

undergraduate prizes for her paper on

―Subjectivity, Temporality & Recogni-

tion.‖

Other WCU presenters included Dr. Dan

Forbes, Assistant Professor of Philoso-

phy, whose paper was titled, ―Shifting the

Burden of Proof: An Examination of

Moore‘s Response to Skepticism‖; then-

graduate student Eli Bonner (now-

MA ‗10), who gave a paper entitled

―Putting Marxist Epistemology to

Work: the Case for Radical Egali-

tarianism;‖ current graduate students

Katrina Dix, Holly Metzler, and

Harvey Greer, whose papers were,

respectively, ―Overabundance &

Curiosity in Foucault: Postmodern

Confusion, the Aesthetics of Exis-

tence, and Care of the Self,‖

―Overcoming Difference: Hick‘s

Pluralism versus Newbigin‘s Dia-

logue,‖ and ―God or Not: A The-

matic Analysis of Sartre & Kierke-

gaard.‖

Undergraduate presenters besides

Ms. Marvin included graduating

senior and Philosophy Club President

Timothy Burke (BA, Religious Studies,

‗10), who presented on ―The Roots of

Transcendentalism: Ralph Waldo Emer-

son & Indian Philosophy‖; Michael

Weaver (also BA ‗10, and a Club officer)

who discussed ―Why I Can‘t Believe‖;

and Megan McCormick, whose paper

was titled ―A Joyous Non-Sequitur.‖

The conference

next year will be

held at California

University, and we

would love to see

some of our

alumni there!

IAPRS held its annual conference at West

Chester on April 16-17. Serving as presi-

dent of the organization in 2009-2010, Dr.

Helen Schroepfer took charge of organiz-

ing and hosting the event. The conference

brings together philosophy and religious

studies students, faculty and alumni from

the schools in the Pennsylvania State Sys-

tem of Higher Education. The keynote

speaker, Dr. Lanei Rodemeyer from Du-

quesne University, presented her work on

―Living In—and Out—of Time (A Phe-

nomenological Description).‖ The paper

focused on her current work revolving

around Husserlian Phenomenology and

feminist/gender philosophy of the body.

Conference papers were presented by 5

faculty, 13 undergraduates, 4 graduate

On January 23, 2010,West Chester Uni-

versity hosted its 5th annual student-run

philosophy conference in Philips Memo-

rial Hall. The theme of this year‘s con-

ference was Art, Ethics & Democ-

racy. The keynote speaker for the event

was Lesley University‘s emeritus profes-

sor, George Hein, Ph.D.

Part of the value of this student-run event

is that it is reflective of the interests of

those graduate students responsible for its

organization. This year‘s primary confer-

ence organizer, Gabrielle Aruta, an MA

Applied Ethics student at WCU and do-

cent at the Barnes Foundation approached

Dr. Hein due to his prestigious interdisci-

plinary publishing record in John Dewey

scholarship and transformative pedagogy

in the museum studies profession. In

addition, Dr. Hein has long been a mem-

ber of the Barnes Foundation's curatorial

advisory committee. His keynote address

was entitled, ―Aesthetics and Politics (or

Thought and Action): Dewey and Bar-

nes.‖

The conference program featured presen-

tations from three current West Chester

graduate students, Katrina Dix, Corinne

Lecourieux and Gabrielle Aruta, along

with one recent department alum, Dono-

van Irven (Martin) (MA ‗09).

Other conference participants came from

schools such as UPenn, Villanova, NYU,

UArts, and the New School, which pro-

vided fruitful dialogue, debate and

sparked new friendships.

Page 2

PASSHE Interdisciplinary Association for Philosophy and Religious Studies (IAPRS) Conference held at WCU

WCU’s 5th Annual Grad Student Philosophy Conference

Join us in January 2011 for the 6th

Annual Graduate Student Conference.

Planning is underway!

Dr. Lanei Rodemeyer (1.), Husserl scholar at Duquesne,

keynote speaker for the 2010 IAPRS conference, jokes

with Dr. Stephen Sullivan of Edinboro University.

This year during the Dr. Patricia Grasty

Gaines Multicultural Leadership Awards

dinner on March 31, 2010, one of three Anna

Murray Douglass Circle Awards was pre-

sented to our very own Ruth Porritt. She

shares this award with Richeleen Dashield,

Director of Social Equity and Grace Kelly,

Advisor to the WCU Gospel Choir. Accord-

ing to the Frederick Douglass Institute:

―This award is to draw attention to the part-

nership of leading women in the WCU com-

munity who improve the quality of our

lives.‖ And, indeed Ruth does that—every

day!

Philosophy Department Faculty, 1969

Dr. Ruth Porritt Anna Murray Douglass Circle Award

Image from The Freder-

ick Douglass Papers at

the Library of Congress:

Anna Murray Douglass,

My Mother as I Recall

Her, by Rosetta Douglass

Sprague (Series: Family

Papers)

Dr. Margolis, Laura H. Carnell Professor

of Philosophy at Temple University,

joined us this spring for our second an-

nual lecture for our lecture series Ideas

That Matter. Dr. Margolis is the author

of nearly forty books, and has published

widely in many areas, including philoso-

phy of art, philosophy of mind, ethics,

and pragmatism. Critical of the idea of

universal ethical principles, he is known

for his defense of ―robust relativism.‖ His

most recent books include The Arts and

the Definition of the Human (Stanford,

2009); On Aesthetics: An Unforgiving

Introduction (Wadsworth, 2009); Prag-

matism's Advantage: American and Euro-

pean Philosophy at the End of the Twen-

tieth Century (Stanford, 2010); The Cul-

tural Space of the Arts and the Infelicities

of Reductionism (Columbia, 2010).

We originally contacted Dr. Margolis

because we needed an able adjunct for

our Introduction to Meaning course

(PHI330). He recommended one of his

students, Robert Main, who joined us in

the fall as a part-time adjunct while fin-

ishing his dissertation under Dr. Mar-

golis‘s guidance. Robert arranged for Dr.

Margolis to give the lecture in early

April, and subsequently successfully de-

fended his dissertation. (Congratulations,

Dr. Main!)

Dr. Margolis graced us for lunch on April

14th and several faculty and graduate

students gathered at Spence‘s (a favorite

downtown restaurant). In Philips Auto-

graph Library, he charmed the gathered

crowd and provoked thoughtful discus-

sion with his talk "Enabling Constraints

on the Legitimation of Moral Norms,"

written for the occasion. The talk was

videotaped and the text will be available

this fall once our graduate assistants have

had time to transcribe. Check our web-

site often for updates.

Also, connect with us via our

Facebook page:

Philosophy@West Chester.

Send your email address and

other news to Rose at

rsykes@wcupa.edu for future

mailings. Or call us anytime!

Page 3

From the WCU Special Collections archives: 1969 Serpentine Yearbook: first

row l. to r.: Profs. Kapunan, Platt, Caputo, Riukas; 2d row: Struckmeyer, Bany-

acski; top row: Williams, Claghorn and Meyer.

2010 Ideas that Matter guest lecturer: Dr. Joseph Margolis, Temple University

George S. Claghorn, Ph.D., Turns 90 and Recalls Our History A Success Story

The history of the West Chester University Department of Philosophy is one of success, and has been from the beginning. The

decade of the 1960s is recorded in memory as one of tumult, but for West Chester it was a time of unparalleled growth. In

1960, the term, “Teachers,” was dropped from our title, and we became “West Chester State College.” The emphasis shifted to

liberal arts. Yet, there was one glaring deficiency: the curriculum lacked Philosophy! President Earl F. Sykes and Dean Kenneth Slagle

determined to correct this situation. So, in 1966, they established the Department of Philosophy. The year 2016, will be the Fiftieth

Anniversary of our founding. As we prepare to celebrate that milestone, it is fitting to evaluate our progress, so far.

Once the department was begun, everyone joined, full speed, in the effort to build it. By 1970, incredible progress had been made.

From zero, a complete roster of courses and a major had been developed. A complement of Philosophy professors was added, which

grew to eight full-time (Banyacski, Claghorn, Croddy, Platt, Riukas, Streveler, Struckmeyer, and Williams). Teachers had celebrity

status, teaching the refreshing, new topics. Enrollments soared as enthusiastic students filled the classes. Library resources were rapidly

acquired, with works of all the chief philosophers, and other standard references. .

The crowning achievement of the first four years came in 1970, with state approval for our Master of Arts program. This was the first,

and is still the only such, degree in all the institutions of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. It immediately attracted

students, from far and wide. A number of those initial master-recipients went on directly to receive their Ph. D. degrees, and commence

careers in college teaching.

A question often asked about our subject is, ―What can one do with a degree in Philosophy?‖ The answer I always give is,

―Everything!‖ A few samples of the occupations our graduates entered will prove the validity of this statement:

*Hon. James P. MacElree II, Judge, Court of Common Pleas, West Chester (BA ‗70)

*James Lutz, Executive Director, Red Rose Transit, Lancaster (MA ‗76)

Michael Duff, J.D., Harvard, Professor, Wyoming School of Law (BA ‗91)

Dana Skaddan, M.B.A., Harvard, Corporate Manager (BA ‗80)

Grace Fala, Ph. D., Professor, Juniata College (MA ‗88)

*Paul Sanborn, Public School Principal (MA ‗72)

*William Cannon, former editor, Motor Age magazine (BA ‗81)

Louis Alamia, M.D., Army Physician (BA ‗72)

John Zwierzyna, Curator, Pennsylvania State Museum, Harrisburg (MA ‗81).

Of the above, Paul Sanborn initiated securing state certification for Philosophy, as a subject in

Pennsylvania secondary schools. A host of other Philosophy graduates serve faithfully and

effectively in careers, such as: law, teaching, ministry, business, and various other fields.

Over the years since 1970, more professors joined the Philosophy faculty ranks (Hipple, Por-

ritt, Woolfrey, Hoffman, Schroepfer, Pierlott, Forbes, and now, Striblen). Early on, six mem-

bers of the original staff won faculty fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Two of them were awarded three

fellowships each. The faculty were in demand at Philosophy meetings, to deliver papers on the local, state, national, and international

levels.

Dr. Platt‘s Jerusalem address was reprinted by UNESCO in Paris, in multiple languages, for world-wide distribution. Every one of the

WCU Philosophy professors regarded their position , not simply as ―a job,‖ but rather, as a ―dedication,‖ which they avidly pursued.

On the student side, the number of courses offered continually increased, as did the list of Philosophy majors. This was the more re-

markable, because many had no acquaintance at all with Philosophy until they took their first introductory course in college. Students

caught the ―philosophy bug,‖ an unmistakable excitement on discovering the world of ideas. The young people sensed their profound

influence, and had a vision of the splendid opportunities they offered.

The department took sure strides forward. Nationally-known philosophers were welcomed to the campus, including a number of presi-

dents of the American Philosophical Association. A chapter of the national Philosophy honor society, Phi Sigma Tau, was chartered on

our campus. This provided recognition for student academic pace-setters. Every year, a new class was inducted, in an impressive

ceremony, memorable for all concerned.

In 1980, a Philosophy Advisory Board was formed, to promote the cause of West Chester Philosophy. This distinguished group of

volunteers, community leaders, was intensely interested in the department‘s activities and direction. In addition to the members aster-

isked above, they included: Lois Harshaw Barker, Vice President and CEO of the Hay Group, Philadelphia (BA Phil. UP); Rabbi Mac

Portal (BA ‗82), and Rev. Earl Trent, Jr., both of West Chester; Timothy Keltz, Database Administrator, GPU Service Corp., Reading

(MA ‗76); Reginald Regis, President of Eastern Futures, Inc. of Wayne (MA ‗92); and John J. Scully, Vice President, Roy F. Weston,

Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA (BA ‗74). The enterprise could be called a ―think tank.‖ The members gave freely of their time and thought.

(Continued on page 5)

“Once the department was

begun, everyone joined, full

speed, in the effort to build it.”

—-George S. Claghorn

Page 4

* Member, Philosophy Advisory Board

V OLU ME 1 3

birthday.

I look back on my forty-one years at

West Chester University with boundless

appreciation. I wish to express my un-

ceasing gratitude to the faculty colleagues

of the Philosophy Department. Their

steadfast loyalty, absolute dependability,

and unremitting efforts made all the won-

derful accomplishments a reality.

Name after name, picture after picture,

flash through my mind, of West Chester

University friends. Every one was so

helpful. My hearty thanks to all! I salute,

also, each of our Philosophy graduates.

You are a select group of superb indi-

viduals! We are proud of you and hold

you in highest esteem. Do continue to

keep in touch. It will be a great pleasure

to hear from you or have you visit, any

time. I wish YOU the best that life can

hold, and God‘s richest blessing!

—-George S. Claghorn

They were a tremendous encouragement,

and were deeply appreciated.

In 1990, West Chester University was

accepted for membership in the Greater

Philadelphia Philosophy Consortium.

This was a major advance, to become a

partner with a select group of area univer-

sities and colleges, in a lively, cultural

enterprise. West Chester immediately

gained higher academic standing, in the

eyes of the public. Faculty and students

found doors open to many new, intercol-

legiate opportunities. The Consortium

brought famous philosophers to the cam-

pus. The ongoing experience has proved

to be enriching to all.

In the 1980s, a ―Friends of Philosophy‖

was organized, appealing to alumni and

other interested persons, to support Phi-

losophy scholarships. The aim was to

help needy students, and attract new

graduate students. We followed the

model of football and music scholarships,

which are underwritten by faithful gradu-

ates. The project made a good start, with

(Continued from page 4) a number of responses. Dana Skaddan

gave the major donation, to date, of

$10,000.

Also, during the decades of the 1980s and

1990s, we issued a series of Philosophy

Newsletters. They chronicled Philosophy

graduates by classes, honors awarded,

sketches of outstanding alumni, and ac-

tivities of all who reported. These news-

letters met with favor, and are still kept as

references.

* * *

An accounting is due on events in my

life, ―since then.‖ From 1966 to 1996, I

was re-elected Chair of Philosophy, pos-

sibly a WCU record. Then in 1996, I

returned to full-time teaching. Two years

later, my book on Jonathan Edwards,

Letters and Personal Writings, Vol. 16, of

an edition of twenty-six, was published

by the Yale University Press. I spoke at

events commemorating the tercentenary

of Edwards‘ birth, in 2003, at Miami,

Washington, and Princeton.

In 2004, I retired and now live in Lans-

dale, Pennsylvania. In December, 2009,

friends gave a party to mark my ninetieth

Page 5

George Claghorn, con’t

A photo of Old Main courtesy WCU Public Rela-

tions Office

Old Main (from West Chester University’s Digitalized Postcard Collection,

available through the Library’s Special Collections portal)

Page 6

calling me by my first name, I knew

things would be OK. This took some

weeks, however. One time I showed up

and all classes had unaccountably been

canceled for the week.

Despite all the snafus, the experience of

getting to know the men (about 30 of

them) in my class made any difficulties

getting in more than worthwhile. I taught

the "Forgiveness and Revenge" class

which I had initially given at WCU in

2006, and it was very well received.

In their out-of-class papers the men

sometimes shared stories of their lives. A

large number of these men are lifers,

destined to be behind bars permanently. I

had one student who had been there close

to 30 years, after committing a crime at

17. Pennsylvania is a very punitive state,

though as I have told WCU students, the

US in general has been much more will-

ing to impose harsh sentencing than was

the case in the 1960s and 1970s.

I must say that I became attached to the

men, some more than others. I had two

students who could have done graduate

work in philosophy. A few lacked basic

writing skills. But their motivation level

About four years ago, I learned through a

60 Minutes program that Bard College,

near New York City, was offering college

classes to state prison inmates.

Then in early 2008, I found out from

Brian O'Neill of WCU's Criminal Justice

Department that Villanova was doing the

same thing at Graterford State Prison,

near Collegeville. It turned out that Joe

Betz, a Villanova philosopher whom I

had known for some years through our

mutual interest in Central America, ac-

tively taught in the program. I soon ap-

plied, was made a Villanova adjunct, and

had my first chance to teach this past

spring. It was quite an experience.

Just getting into the prison is the hardest

part (for a nonoffender like me, anyway).

One expects certain bureaucratic delays

but things got a little ridiculous this se-

mester. For instance, the prison twice

mislaid a "background clearance" form I

submitted. And I heard inconsistent mes-

sages about things like the orientation

visit, getting recognized via my ID card

(the machine first said I didn't exist, then

gave a different "invalid" reply). But

once the man at the front gate starting

Frederick R. Struckmeyer, Professor Emeritus Philosophy in Prison

was high, they consistently expressed

appreciation that outsiders were coming

into the prison to teach, and they eagerly

participated in class discussion. We did

not have a dull session during the entire

semester.

I had already been interested in prisoner

issues before having this experience at

Graterford, having volunteered at George

Hill Prison (near Cheyney University) for

a number of years. But these last few

months have reinforced my belief that we

need to end what has been called the

Prison Industrial Complex, a system of

frequently "cruel and unusual" punish-

ment which is enormously costly and

which in many cases falls short of the

justice in which we claim to believe.

—Fred Struckmeyer

Retired Professor W. Stephen Croddy

Dr. Croddy sent this update in May: ―To

be intellectually engaged continues to be

one of my primary goals. In an effort to

achieve this priority I am studying

Nietzsche along with Camus. For under-

standing the former I am finding

Nietzsche et la Philosophie by Gilles

Deleuze and Frederic Nietzsche by Lou

Andreas-Salome to be particularly help-

ful. After having read L’Envers et l’En-

droit and Le Mythe de Sisyphe, I am prof-

iting from reading two studies of Camus

by Arnaud Corbic, Camus: L’Absurde, la

Revolte, l’Amour and Camus et l’Homme

sans Dieu.

―As the above remarks suggest, I have

left the analytic tradition of Anglo/

American philosophy with its emphasis

on constructing and clarifying systems

of thought. Instead I am studying the

interpretation of philosophy as the

pursuit of a certain way of life. In

order to better understand this view, I

am reading Pierre Hadot, for example

his La Philosophie comme Maniere de

Vivre.

―While I am grateful for my work in

the analytic tradition, at this stage in

my life my studies in this more hu-

manistic concept of philosophy are

especially rewarding.

―I hope that everyone else is finding

philosophy to be equally satisfying.‖

Dr. Croddy welcomes your emails at

stcroddy@aol.com.

Albert Camus, 1951 (Henri Cartier-

Bresson—Magnum Photos)

ford 2008, in which he expresses indebt-

edness for access to Dr. Streveler‘s schol-

arship.

Dr. Streveler continues to review books

for Choice, a division of the American

Library Association; most recently, a

review of In Pursuit of the Good: Intel-

lect and Action in Aristotle's Ethics by

Eric Salem (Phila., Paul Dry Books,

2010).

He is also currently helping another for-

mer student (Harry Armstrong (BA ‗87,

MA, ‗89) build a tree house for his

daughters. And, so far, says Paul, ―the

structure is still standing!‖

Concerning Dr. Paul Streveler‘s recent

activities—amongst those ―suitable for

print‖ [his words]—he has been working

closely with former student Stephen E.

Lahey (BA ‗86; Ph.D. in Medieval Stud-

ies, University of Connecticut, ‗96), As-

sistant Professor of Classics and Reli-

gious Studies at the University of Ne-

braska, Lincoln, on a translation of a trea-

tise by John Wyclif (c.1330-1384) titled

de Ideis (on Ideas). Dr. Lahey has himself

authored two books on Wyclif: Philoso-

phy and Politics in the Thought of John

Wyclif, Cambridge 2003, in which he

thanks Dr. Streveler for introducing him

to medieval thought; and John Wyclif, in

the series Great Medieval Thinkers, Ox-

Dr. Platt reports to us that he attended

the Eastern Division meeting of the

APA last December and produced one

book review which will appear in the

Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies

next year. He continues to serve as

mentor of an Education for Ministry

adult theological education group at

Holy Trinity Church in West Chester.

In addition, he spends much of his

time attending concerts, plays and

operas or just playing games with his

grandchildren. Next spring, he says, ―I

may do a course for the Osher Life-

long Learning Institute at Widener.‖

And, he also shares membership on

the ethics committee for the

Neighborhood Visiting Nurses Asso-

ciation of the Neighborhood Health

Agencies, Inc. of West Chester, with

Dr. Woolfrey, which meets quarterly.

ing Amy Marvin (see pg. 1) and three

students listed in Who‘s Who Among

Students in American Universities and

Colleges (Timothy Burke, Amy Marvin,

and Honors College student and phi-

losophy major, Alexandra Perez).

Many students, both undergraduate and

graduate, were active at conferences

here and elsewhere, including the group

Dr. Hoffman organized for the Mid-

Atlantic Region Association for Asian

Studies last November at Villanova.

Planning continues for a Buddhist Eth-

ics Symposium (February 11-12,

2011—mark those calendars!) co-

sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia

Philosophy Consortium to be held at

WCU, and we hope many of you can

attend.

I personally hope you will enjoy two

revived features in this newsletter:

Alumni News and List of Graduates.

(Continued from page 1)

Page 7

Paul A. Streveler, Professor Emeritus

Thomas W. Platt, Professor Emeritus

.

“I believe that in the end truth

will conquer.”

— John Wyclif

News, con’t

West Chester University

Philosophy Department’s

Newest Hire!

Dr. Cassie Striblen

V OLU ME 1 3

coming from Springer. In August, Dr.

Striblen will present a paper titled ―From

Individuals to Groups: A ‗Narrative‘ So-

cial Ontology‖ at the Seventh Interna-

tional Conference on Collec-

tive Intentionality in Basel, Switzerland.

Aside from philosophy, Dr. Striblen is an

aspiring artisan baker, beekeeper, and is a

former US Peace Corps volunteer. We

are delighted that Dr. Striblen is joining

us and are looking forward to a long and

happy collaboration with her.

Dr. Striblen joins us this fall from Doane

College in Crete, Nebraska. She received

her Ph.D. from the University of Cincin-

nati in 2007, and will teach introduction

to philosophy, introduction to logic, and a

graduate course on Hannah Arendt in the

fall. Her area of specialization is social

and political philosophy with an empha-

sis on group responsibility. During this

past year, Dr. Striblen wrote a book re-

view for Choice and another for the APA

Newsletter on Feminism. She also com-

posed an article on Virginia Held for the

Encyclopedia of Global Justice, forth-

Dr. Frank J. Hoffman attended three one-

week conferences in China last summer

(2009). He was a participant at the Bei-

jing University Department of Philosophy

Conference, ―Science, Philosophy, and

Belief,‖ sponsored by the Templeton

Foundation, June 18-21. He delivered a

keynote lecture, "Introducing Early In-

dian Pali Buddhist Texts,‖ at the 4th An-

nual Young Buddhologists Symposium,

Chinese University of Hong Kong, June

30-July 4. At the 16th World Congress of

the International Union of Anthropology

and Ethnology, July 27-31, in Yunnan

University, Kunming, Dr. Hoffman pre-

sented a paper, "Commerce of Ideas in a

Dai Lue Religious System." While travel-

ing the country, he also gave lectures at

Shandong University, Xiamen Univer-

sity, University of Hong Kong, Royal

Asiatic Society‘s Shanghai Branch, and

Wuhan University. In mid-August, he

Dr. Dan Forbes was a busy fellow, as

usual. He developed and taught a new

graduate-level course, PHI 525 Episte-

mology, this past spring, where among

other things he introduced students to the

joys (and pains) of reading Kant‘s Cri-

tique of Pure Reason. He particularly

enjoyed participating in the panel organ-

ized by the Philosophical Society on

―Conceptions and Proofs of God.‖ Dr.

Forbes‘ recent research has been diverse.

He presented two academic papers lo-

cally. At the IAPRS Conference this past

spring he presented a paper on G. E.

Moore‘s critique of skepticism, and for a

Philosophy Forum colloquium talk, Dr.

Forbes discussed his pedagogical ap-

proach to teaching Plato‘s dialogue

Euthyphro. Finally, he wrote an article

on the ―aesthetic of evil‖–the phenome-

non of movie villains like Darth Vader

looking ―cool‖–for a forthcoming inter-

disciplinary anthology on evil and popu-

lar culture edited by former adjunct Ja-

mey Heit.

Page 8

Cassie Striblen

Daniel Forbes Frank Hoffman

Current Faculty

gave a week of service to mentor college

student leaders sponsored by Rotary Club

of Shanghai and Hua Qiao Foundation.

In the fall, Dr. Hoffman presented a paper

at Villanova University, ―Interreligious

Dialogue,‖ on a panel with WCU gradu-

ate and undergraduate students at the

Mid-Atlantic Region Association for

Asian Studies Conference. He serves as

Associate Director of Ethnic Studies and

is currently working on his fourth book.

V OLU ME 1 3

Local Religious Perspectives in Oral His-

tory.‖ This project aims to document the

rich variety of religious histories in south-

east Pennsylvania. The goal of the initial

project is to refine interview questions

and explore various recording media,

work which will position them to apply

for external funding for a more extensive

oral history project.

Meanwhile, she is compiling material for

Recently tenured and promoted, Dr.

Schroepfer‘s most recent work,

―Hospitality: Agency, Ethics and Gen-

der,‖ will be published in the anthology

Feminism and Hospitality: Gender in the

Host/Guest Relationship, ed. M. Haming-

ton, forthcoming from Lexington Books

this year. In addition, she and Dr. Karin

Gedge (WCU History Department) re-

ceived a University grant for a pilot pro-

ject entitled ―Documenting Diversity:

As an administrator these days, along

with the NSF grant, Dr. Woolfrey‘s work

has centered on curriculum issues such as

designing (with H. Schroepfer) a new

recommended Gen Ed course, PHI100

Creating Meaning (an Intro to Existential-

ism); updating and revising the Peace &

Conflict Studies Program curriculum; and

shepherding through a new undergraduate

Applied Ethics minor proposal—currently

awaiting approval at the PASSHE level.

As she did last July, she‘ll be giving a

paper at the North American Society for

Social Philosophy—this year in Toronto.

This year‘s topic: virtue ethics and racial

profiling.

Law, Crime and Ethics in Prague in

May. Pierlott also presented a paper on

the ethics of bluffing in business negotia-

tions, entitled "Business Bluffing Apolo-

getics," at the 36th Conference on Value

Inquiry, held at SIU-Carbondale in April.

Matt continues to explore philosophical

issues in and through popular culture,

including a contribution in the soon-to-be

-published Fashion and Philosophy

(Blackwell 2010), and two chapters in a

forthcoming text, PhiloSeussical Investi-

gations.

In September, Dr. Pierlott spoke at the

Church-State Symposium held by Ameri-

cans United, Bucks County Chapter,

along with other WCU Philosophy fac-

ulty (including Woolfrey and Schroepfer)

and other academics, lawyers, and

clergy. He presented natural law theorist

Michael Pakaluk's argument against same

-sex marriage, demonstrating how this

argument actually threatens a healthy

separation between church and

state. Developing his analysis, Matt pre-

sented a formal paper, "Same Gender-Sex

and the Common Good," on Pakaluk's

view of the common good and its relation

to heteronormativity at the 2nd Global

Conference: Good Sex, Bad Sex - Sex

Page 9

Helen Schroepfer

Matthew Pierlott

Current Faculty, con’t

Joan Woolfrey

a resource for teaching religious studies

which will be published on-line by the

Wabash Center for Teaching and Learn-

ing in Religion and Theology in the fall.

Dr. Schroepfer‘s contribution will focus

on women and religion, research that

dovetails nicely with her new course

offering, Women and Religion.

Ruth Porritt

Two of Dr. Porritt‘s conference presen-

tations this year focused on ethics educa-

tion. At the 8th Annual International

Conference on Arts and Humanities she

discussed sadness and grief as ethically

valuable emotions. For the 21st Annual

International Conference on College

Teaching and Learning she gave a paper

on how ethics students design their own

non-profit organizations

using Anne Firth Murray‘s

Paradigm Found (2006) as a

blueprint.

Greetings, Alumni!

The 2009-10 school year was an exciting

year to be a part of the WCU Philosophy

Department and serve as the President of

the WCU Philosophical Society. The club

worked hard this year on building cama-

raderie between the students, and be-

tween students and professors; we hosted

a couple of exciting events to encourage

those connections, and both were a lot of

fun as well as educational, and attracted a

large crowd of students each time. The

through the Department website at:

wcupa.edu/_ACADEMICS/

sch_cas.phi/ (you may need to in-

stall Silverlight—it‘s a safe installa-

tion!).

Dr. Larry Udell, long-time adjunct, or-

ganized a second videoconference this

past term, paralleling his graduate semi-

nar in Karl Marx. He connected with

Professors Elizabeth Anderson

(University of Michigan), David

Schweickart (Loyola Chicago) and Geoff

Harcourt (Cambridge) to discuss the phi-

losophy and economics of Karl Marx.

The video can be found by linking

Page 10

WCU Philosophical Society organizes two faculty panel discussions in 2009-10

West Chester hosts second videoconference!

.

first, in December, was entitled ―What Is

Consciousness?‖ and the second, in

March, focused on ―Conceptions and

Proofs of God.‖ In addition, the club

held regular meetings, with meeting time

split between planning and business, and

conversation of philosophical topics.

On a personal note, I am happy to be

able to continue on in the department as

a graduate student, beginning this fall.

As you all know, the WCU Philosophy

Department is a unique and vibrant de-

Society President Timothy Burke (far l.) moderates as (from l.) Drs. Frank Hoffman, Matthew Pierlott, Joan

Woolfrey, Helen Schroepfer and Dan Forbes ruminate on “Conceptions and Proofs of God.”

partment, with dedicated professors and

eager students. Being a part of it now or

ever is an honor, and I look forward to

spending more time within the hallowed

halls of Main Hall and growing with the

department.

—Timothy J. Burke (BA ‗10)

Out-going President

In-coming grad student

V OLU ME 1 3

workshop and was in

Illinois for a week in July

studying under a French

Clarinet Maker in a Mas-

ter Class. I am Editor-in-

Chief for Current Prac-

tice with BC Decker pub-

lishers and I am currently

co-authoring the revision of a book on

―visual thinking‖ originally published in

1986.

Michael S. Jones, Ph.D. (MA ‗95) As-

sistant Professor of Philosophy at Liberty

University in Virginia. Awarded Liberty

University School of Religion award for

Creativity in Teaching

(2010). Presented

―Does Cognitive Humil-

ity Lead to Religious

Tolerance: Thoughts on

Craig and Quinn‖ at the

2010 Society for Phi-

losophy of Religion

conference in Claremont, CA. Published

―Culture and Interreligious Understand-

ing according to the Romanian Philoso-

pher Lucian Blaga‖ in Journal of Ecu-

menical Studies 45:1 (2010), 97-112.

Amy Abrams (BA ‗02) is back in

school, enrolled in WCU‘s MS Higher

contributed to the department over the

years.

Marilynn Lawrence (MA ‗04) Web

Content Writer, Vanguard Investment

Group, Media, PA.

Beverly Hawkins (BA ‗88, MA ‗92) I

received a University of Pennsylvania

Alumni Achievement Award at my 35th

reunion in May, much to my surprise. It

was given to me at the Dental School

where I graduated in 1975 from the De-

partment of Oral Hygiene.

I work in private practice 3 long days a

week. I also have my musical instrument

Paul Sanborn (MA ‗72), I retired from

the PA Public School System in 1999,

before the politicians switched the pen-

sion multiplier for their own benefit and

those educators who retired after 2002.

At the time I was too young to sit at home

and mildew, so I went to the high school

from which I graduated, Devon Prep, and

obtained a position with them. In the

eleven years since, I have worked as the

librarian with a half-time (16 periods per

week) teaching load. Nice work if you

can get it. Unfortunately the day I re-

ported, in August, I was asked to be the

coach of the Academic Challenge Team,

which competes a la "college bowl" with

other high schools in Chester County.

Okay. Then two of the coaches at Devon

quit and I was asked to be the head coach

of men's cross country, indoor track and

spring track and field. Eventually the

school administration remembered I

was a contract intelligence analyst for the

Navy on Eastern European affairs, so I

was given two sections of AP European

History to teach. . . .Then I developed a

seminar for seniors on Vietnam and mid-

century United States. As pressures built,

educationally, financially and otherwise

at Devon, someone remembered I was a

retired administrator. I was made Director

of Curriculum and Instruction. . . . Finally

we are now in the process of self-review

for Middle States re-accreditation. I am

responsible to the headmaster for the

entire process. Thank God I retired when

I did. I never would have been able to

handle all these tasks at Devon with a

fulltime administrative job at some local

district. In my spare time I continue to

run/race, work at the Freedoms Founda-

tion, every so often visit Washington to

handle a contract and attend to my family

of a wife, two dogs, two sons (youngest

WCU undergrad philosophy grad 1990's),

two daughters-in-law and four grandchil-

dren. Never get a philosophy degree!

Look what it does to you! . . .

Sylvia Haviland (MA ‗79) wrote and

successfully defended her thesis on

Bishop George Berkeley [1685-1753]

entitled Ideas without Illusion: Sense

Without Matter. During the 1980‘s and

1990‘s Sylvia taught introductory phi-

losophy courses for the department,

which she remembers as "a wonderful

experience." One of her colleagues dur-

ing that time, Ruth Porritt, arranged for

Sylvia to visit campus on May 4, 2010,

so that

Sylvia

could

meet peo-

ple who

joined the

depart-

ment after

her retire-

ment. We

appreciate

all that

Sylvia has

together called Urban Yogis. I earned an

MA in Philosophy from the New School

for Social Research in NYC, and now,

the bulk of my time is spent teaching

courses online. I adjunct for a variety of

universities, and I teach the following

courses: Ethics, Philosophy of Human

Conduct, Philosophy and Religion, Aes-

thetics, Logic and Critical Thinking.

Samantha Noll (BA ‗08) is in the Ph.D.

Education Counseling program which she

expects to complete by Spring ‗12.

Cristina Utti (MA ‗05) has been teach-

ing English for the Philadelphia School

District and tutoring for the Juvenile Jus-

tice Center‘s group homes while raising

five children.

Anthony Biduck (BA ‗03) Currently I

am living in the San Francisco Bay area

with my wife. We run a yoga company

program in Philosophy at Michigan State

University and is having a blast as a

teaching assistant.

Larry Tamaccio (BA ‗08) is attending

Quinnipiac University School of Law in

Hamden, CT.

Brian T. Jones (BA ‗07, MA ‗09) is

pursuing a Doctorate (PsyA.D.) in Clini-

cal Psychoanalysis at the Boston Gradu-

ate School of Psychoanalysis.

Page 11

Alumni News

Check out our website for periodic

updates of Alumni News

http://www.wcupa.edu/_ACADEMICS/

SCH_CAS.PHI/alumni.asp

Sylvia Haviland pages through her own

MA thesis in the Chair’s office during her

visit in May.

You’re All Invited in February!! WCU’s Philosophy Depart-ment is hosting the Greater Philadelphia Philosophy Consortium Colloquium on Buddhist Ethics—David Loy (Xavier College), Xin Park (American University) and Charles Johnson (University of Washington) are headliners! February 12 & 13, 2011. Contact Joan Woolfrey at jwoolfrey@wcupa.edu or Frank Hoffman at fhoffman@wcupa.edu for details.

Philosophy Department

720 S. High St.

Main Hall, Room 103

West Chester, PA 19382

Graduates from 2009

B.A. in Philosophy

Sean Gallaher

James Gofus

Andrea Hilton

Derek Krzywicki

Daniel Levin

John Uetz

B.A. in Religious Studies

John Commiskey, III

Ryan Forney

Zachary Brown

M.A. in Philosophy

Brian T. Jones

Donovan (Irven) Martin

Anthony M. White

M.A. in Philosophy: Applied Ethics

Stephen Skilton, Jr.

Brian (Ploskina) Pakpour

Graduates from 2008 B.A. in Philosophy

Katrina Dix

Noah Zinter

Ashley Manta

Mehdi Essmidi

Hans Kocher

Samantha Noll

Laurence Tamaccio, Jr.

Anthony Worman

B.A. in Religious Studies

Kathryn Murray

Nathaniel Craig

M.A. in Philosophy

Edward Pollitt, III

Geoffrey Gould

Graduates from 2010 (to date)

B.A. in Philosophy

Christopher Bopp

David (D.J.) Cunningham

Kevin Doyle

Brian Lieb

Alexandra Perez

Nynoshka Poobalan

Kari Sheridan

Michael Weaver

Jacob Young

B.A. in Religious Studies

Timothy J. Burke

Dan P. Dalmonte

Jane Mahoney

M.A. in Philosophy

Eli Bonner

J. Alex Charles

Philosophy Graduates: 2008-09 and 2009-10

Phone: 610-436-2841

Fax: 610-436-2228

E-mail: rsykes@wcupa.edu

or jwoolfrey@wcupa.edu

For the Love of Wisdom.

WEST CHESTER UNIVERSITY OF PA